Sandra, the 'outsider,' gets pushed aside

For Sandra Pupatello it was merely the end of a dream. For Windsor it's the beginning of a nightmare, a long, chilly spell as designated outcast in the political wilderness of this province, far from the levers of power that brought this community countless rewards.

By Windsor StarJanuary 28, 2013

For Sandra Pupatello it was merely the end of a dream. For Windsor it's the beginning of a nightmare, a long, chilly spell as designated outcast in the political wilderness of this province, far from the levers of power that brought this community countless rewards.

Pupatello, in a remarkable display of guts, class and professional acting skills, managed to sound like she'd won Lotto 649 Saturday night as she whooped it up on the Maple Leaf Gardens stage with premier-designate Kathleen Wynne after getting her butt kicked on the third ballot at the leadership convention of the soon to be renamed Greater Toronto Liberal Party.

Pupatello pronounced herself delighted, thrilled and euphoric over the outcome and claimed she'd "had a ball."

It was a magnanimous, manic over-the-top performance (no doubt the tears came later), but it sure rang hollow with dazed Windsorites who understood just how close, with Pupatello leading after two ballots, this area came to seizing "head-of-the-table" influence in this province before it slipped through our collective fingers.

With Pupatello bounced back to Bay Street by the Toronto Liberal cabal, and with Finance Minister Dwight Duncan set to leave for a private-sector post, Windsor will be without a cabinet voice in either Toronto or in the nation's capital for the first time in a decade. With only a lowly rookie Liberal backbencher in Teresa Piruzza to speak for this area, Windsor will be an afterthought. It will be back-of-the-bus time for our issues.

I feel terrible for Pupatello. Our vueregire principessa (warrior princess) deserved better. She was, in my admittedly biased view, the pick of a far from impressive litter. So what happened? She was the victim of payback. You know that expression: "What goes around, comes around?" Well her decision to leave cabinet for the private sector was seen by some colleagues as a betrayal. They believed she jumped ship with an election looming that they appeared certain to lose.

In a late 2011 interview, Pupa-tello confided that there were noses out of joint within the McGuinty government when she chose to campaign for husband Jim in the Newfoundland election that October rather help in the Ontario campaign held at the same time. "I can't believe how some were mad. And some people were pretty upfront about it," Pupatello told me over lunch on Erie Street. She saw the reaction as ingratitude for the 16 years of her life she had poured into provincial politics. "I gave them everything. Is there something else I could do for you people?" she fumed while wondering aloud whether they wanted her to open her wrists and give blood.

Some thought Pupatello's time away from the Dalton Gang was a big advantage because it gave her private-sector experience while keeping her clear of the scandals and the teacher tempest. But, as any retiree could have told her, once you walk out that door, you're no longer part of the team. You become disconnected from the water cooler chatter, from the griping, gossiping and shared misery. You're out of the loop. Not one of them. So it shouldn't have been surprising that cabinet ministers delivered their delegates to a fellow "active" minister instead of an "outsider."

For Windsor, I'll wager that momentum for that gazillion-dollar super hospital will soon grind to a halt. We'll get some expensive blueprints to admire but a state-of-the-art hospital? Perhaps shortly after Beelzebub takes up figure skating.

The one bit of good news in all of this is that the Windsor area is now free to make different choices. Without a premier or cabinet minister from this area, it's no longer a matter of shrewd self-interest to back the Liberals. With that downtown Toronto-based party moving to the tweedy and oh-so-correct left under Wynne, pushing into NDP territory, could Windsor, horror of horrors, consider the Tim Hudak Conservatives?

Only if the PCs are adroit enough to recognize an opening on the centre-right. They need to drop this extreme right Tea Party nonsense about right-to-work legislation and other non-starters and become a pragmatic, fiscally conservative choice. The Liberals have handed them a gift. Have they the common sense to seize it?

As for Pupatello, I still see this dynamic salesperson as a logical candidate to fill the big boots of Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis if and when (the heavy betting is on when) he steps down in 2014. Sure. She'll lie low and lick wounds for a while. But being head honcho of her hometown, although a far cry from running the entire province, would be a rather cool job. She has expressed interest in it on a number of occasions and harbours some innovative city-building ideas.

Think about it, Sandra. There is life after being bushwhacked by your Liberal colleagues.

Story Tools

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.